FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES
SCHOOL OF PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY
(Ref: E&PS-03727)

RESEARCH ASSOCIATE in THEORETICAL AND OBSERVATIONAL COSMOLOGY

Salary: £29,837 to £36,661 per annum

The position is based within the Extragalactic Astronomy and Cosmology research group, part of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics (JBCA), and you will be working with Professor Michael Brown and other members of the cosmology group on theoretical studies of cosmological probes, and on the development and application of new analysis techniques for future experiments.

The University of Manchester operates the UK’s next-generation radio facility, e-MERLIN on behalf of the STFC (Science and Technology Facilities Council. The JBCA cosmology group is leading SuperCLASS, a novel radio weak lensing survey of a supercluster of galaxies being conducted with e-MERLIN. We are also playing a leading role in preparations for the Square Kilometre Array, for which we have major science interests in the fields of weak lensing, intensity mapping and Epoch of Reionization studies. In addition, we are heavily involved in future weak lensing surveys in the optical with the Euclid satellite and the LSST. The group is also at the forefront of CMB studies. We are a major contributor to the Planck satellite and are playing active roles in a number of sub-orbital polarization experiments including the QUIJOTE and LSPE experiments.

You will have significant theoretical and analytic skills and experience in developing analysis techniques for extracting science results from massive cosmological datasets. You will be based at the University of Manchester and will play a leading role in developing the theoretical understanding and/or developing novel analysis algorithms for extracting cosmological information from the types of observations mentioned above.

Knowledge and experience of some aspect of theoretical cosmology and/or cosmological data analysis is essential. You must also hold or be about to obtain a PhD or equivalent in a relevant field. You will have a demonstrable track record in communicating your research in both written and oral form. You must possess excellent communication skills and programming skills (eg, C, Fortan, IDL, Python etc.) are essential.

This position is funded by an ERC (European Research Council) Starting Grant. The appointment is available from 1 October 2014 and is for a period of two years with the possibility of renewal.

The University of Manchester values a diverse workforce and welcomes applications from all sections of the community.